Assessing Progress and Trends in Maternal and Child Health in the Islamic World (Countdown to 2030 Multi-Country Case Study)

Principal investigator: Dr. Zulfiqar A.Bhutta, Inaugural Robert Harding Chair in Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Co-Director of the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health and the Founding Director of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health at the Aga Khan University.

The Countdown to 2015 for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Survival tracks progress in maternal and child health and survival in more than 75 high mortality burden countries globally. Success in reaching MDG4 and MDG5 has been differential across these countries, with many nations in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa lagging behind. A significant block of these nations are Muslim Majority Countries (MMCs). The purpose of the Countdown Islamic Country Case Study was to explore these MMCs in greater depth, specifically to undertake a systematic assessment of progress and trends in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH), nutrition, and survival from 1990 to 2015, and to explore the impact of contextual social, economic, environmental, and political factors, with special focus on conflict.

Project collaborators include Countdown to 2015 for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Survival (transitioned to become Countdown to 2030 Consortium), Aga Khan University, Federal University of Pelotas.

Supported by: The US Fund for UNICEF under the Countdown to 2015 for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Survival grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and in-kind support from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the Aga Khan University.